Beaches and Peaks

This post will exemplify the saying that you can experience all four seasons in one day in Ireland. Or in our case, all four seasons in about three hours. Pay 'ttention now, y'all.

This is my perspective on our Mourne Mountain hike. You can find Jak's here.

Jak was amazingly alarmed by early morning Belfast. This is the good morning face she said you'd never see. Ha. That's what she gets for taking her sister along on her great adventure!

Good morning Belfast! We love you!

After some bus trouble, we finally made it to Newcastle where we had Summer on the beach. The warmth was relative, but it does look pretty nice, no?

Jak, our fearless leader took us up past the treeline. This place I dub the season Fall.

Mazes of roots, and my dearly muddied boots.

Once we reached this height, I turned to Jak.

"We just stepped into a calender picture."

Honestly, we couldn't believe the beauty of the place around us. This lovely spot was a cool temperature that felt like Spring.

It began to get a little colder, as you can see the ice immediately and snow up ahead. I began having a bit of a tough time. Jak kept talking about "getting in a groove" and "finding a rhythm" but mostly for me it seemed like we kept charging up the mountain fast and faster. I felt confused.  

"C'mon, it isn't that bad! Just over that ridge the sun is shining. We will make it, okay? You're doing okay!"

Okay, I thought. That girl is FIT.

I don't know if you can see it in my face, but I was wrecked. (That's an official Irish term.)

Finally, we reached the top! My fingers were so chilled that I could barely fumble my camera out to take this picture of the Great Wall of Ireland. No one hears about this scenic wonder, probably because no one takes the time to climb all this way to see it. 

In case you missed it, this season is Winter.

Like conquering warriors, we scaled the wall and were afforded a bit of protection from the wind. The view was a little disappointing and the foggy gray clouds had moved in enough that the effect was a little dismal. At least to the eyes of this young exhausted lass.

At this point, Jak wanted to go farther and try to find a peak where we could get a better view. I suggested (or rather begged and pleaded) that we call our two hour hike a success and head down.

She hesitated and the little toes inside my boots which were quite squashed by all the tramping and my heels were which rubbing a little raw made me squeal out a bribe,

"I will buy you hot chocolate!"

And I did. We descended and what a lovely treat, with the nicely hot chocolate smothered by fresh cream and strawberry flavored mallows. 

After that, I felt more revived and we went to play chicken with the waves.

Our extremely cute selves.

Props for waterproof boots. 

I wish everyone who has ever been stressed could spend more time at the beach. It seems the ideal therapy; so peaceful and calming to hear the waves swoosh in, pause and then tinkle out over the scattered stones and shells.

This is for you. Hope you can imagine yourself here for a moment.

Then again, maybe not. I promise I will try for nicer faces in the future.